Viola's Dreamworld

Sunday, June 22, 2008

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I refer to Mdm Grace Chua's letter (The Straits Times, June 22, 2008) titled "Tuition nation: Time to check what's gone wrong".

MOE and schools often get caught up with the success stories that they read of teenagers who achieve both perfect scores and excellence in external activities such as community projects or CCA. And who could possibly forget the articles on students who own their own companies and businesses outside of school...at the same time still achieving seemingly impossible grades in their examinations? Teachers and education officers then get over-excited and push ahead for more students to achieve similiar results, but in the frenzy they often forget that such success stories simply do not happen to everyone.

The average student already has more than enough on his hands- intensive CCA practices, a seemingly never-ending pile of homework, and more often than not one has to commit to regular community service because it's a compulsory element of our education if we wish to be promoted.

I'm not saying that such activities are tiring and should be scraped entirely- I for one, personally enjoy my stint as a regular volunteer and if it weren't for my school's requirement that each and every student has to be involved in a community project so that we can "serve" and "learn" at the same time, perhaps I would never have embarked on my long-term commitment as a volunteer while studying at the same time. CCA practices, though enjoyable at times, often get draining especially when the number of practices we have to attend becomes staggering. I can still recall the intensive rehearsals I had this year because we had to prepare for SYF- despite living just seven minutes away from school I often reached home after 9pm at night...that's even later than my fellow classmate who stays all the way in Boon Lay. For all the time I spent on CCA rehearsals I could have used to study and prepare for the A levels but I couldn't, and to make things worse, the moment I came home I would fall asleep within thirty minutes of revision because I was too worn out from rehearsals. This did not apply to me sorely, for many of my CCA mates recounted the same experience when I questioned them about the abnormal behaviour I was displaying.

(Here, my classmates will probably ask, "But if things are as bad as you made them out to be then how come during that period you were still able to finish all your homework on time, usually even more than the rest of us did?") The teachers would most probably look on proudly (especially my PD tutor, that's for sure) and say, "That's because she managed her time well and was able to prioritise her work". I would love to agree, but unfortunately that's not the true story. My classmates will remember that together with my two friends, I always "disappeared" during our breaks and could be found in the library. Because of that, we were termed "muggers" and had to bear with all the taunts from our classmates, but do you think we really had a choice? 80% of all my homework was completed during school hours, usually during my breaks, and that was how I got by. Thankfully during that period there were no major tests or examinations, so I did not have to deal with the situation of bringing home a failed paper for my parents to sign.

Teachers and education officers all have our best interests in mind when they implement all rules for us, hoping that we will learn the skill of effective time management so that we can better survive in the working world when we graduate for school. But the fact is that not every student will learn this skill and repeated attempts to force the student to master it- done by piling on homework and external activities on the student- will only backfire. So why are we so surprised by the fact that 97% (if the students surveyed in the poll are taken to be representative of our nation) of the cohort have to turn to tuition in hopes for better grades?

Mdm Chua wrote, "How much time is left for our children to work on their physical growth, bond with their families, or simply be free to daydream and get creative?" I snickered as I read it.

Is it even remotely possible for students today to do things like "bond with our families", "daydream" or even to "get creative"? My own schedule is packed with CCA rehearsals, my long-term regular volunteer commitment each week and of course, homework. AJC students, remember what we were told during our GP lectures? We were urged to revise (and no, homework doesn't count as revision) for 2-4 hours a day (I can't really remember the exact number) but the funny thing is that we don't even have time for that much revision at the end of the day.

I am a private tutor for my aunt's children (not by choice, though, if not for the tight finances in my family. And although this is a good chance to rant about how poorly I'm paid at just $100 every month for 8hours, which usually extends up to 15 hours sometimes, but I shall resist the urge to digress) and I remember being appalled when I first took up the assignment. In all my days of primary school I never took up any tuition other than the compulsory lessons that I was made to attend by my school, yet I still did reasonably well to get into a school that I wanted to go to. Even though in the later years of my secondary school education I took up home tutoring in Maths and Science, compared to some of my friends I still had the least tuition commitments among them. I will always remember my best friend's complaints on how she was struggling with so much tuition and schoolwork, and guess what? At the final lap (the O levels) those with no or lesser tuition did better than those whose parents signed them up for numerous tuition assignments. My good friend, Elaine, even went on to clinch 6A1s and she did not have any tuition at all throughout her entire secondary school life.

Of course, I am not blind to the fact that different students have different learning capabilities, and I am well aware that some students really do need private tutoring to help them progress in their studies. But hey, let's not forget that we all have only one childhood. Adults always tell us to "cherish your schooling years because once you start working it's a different world all together". Education in the past is nowhere like the education we have now- in the past, people relied on themselves and pure hard work to succeed but today, we rely on tuition and pure brain power to score.

I'm all for responsible and self-directed learning. Let the students themselves decide whether they want to take up tuition. As I always tell my own students, "Ultimately whether you do well or not in school is up to you because you're doing it not for your parents or for your teachers, but for your own future." My parents have never forced my sister and I to take up tuition even when we pass them failing report slips to acknowledge. The only reason why we have tuition is because we asked for it, literally. (We approached our parents, told them that we really needed private help because we are struggling with the subjects, and then ask them if we're allowed to take up tuition and whether they are willing to pay for it.) It is not that we are nerds who derive pleasure from studying non-stop but rather, it is because we recognise the need to do well and we want to do well. Even so, we know that piling ourselves with multiple tuition assignments isn't going to work so we settle for the subjects which we really cannot master on our own efforts.

I urge for all parents and teachers to give these poor students a break. Shouldn't we leave them to enjoy their growing up years? After all, they won't get this chance to enjoy anymore once they "step into the working world" (as the adults always say). Let kids be kids. If we push them too hard it will only backfire- remember the child prodigy who was one of the youngest to be admitted to Oxford University, but who ended up as a prostitute anyway?

We only have one childhood. So please, to all parents and teachers out there, let the students enjoy their growing up years instead of pushing them to the edge. As the adage goes, "The road to hell is often paved with good intentions". As much as you may have their welfare in mind, too much pressure will just push them over the edge. We are all in pursuit of happiness (students and working adults alike), so which is better- being a happy student with average grades, or a stressed student with perfect scores but yet has no time for leisure? You decide.

-when are you coming back? ;